I generally don't post in the latest finds thread. So the Zoids section'll do.
Recently been checking out a few haunts in my old stomping ground. Only a few years back I could travel round here and be guaranteed to find somethin' cool everytime.
More than a little disheartened of late though. Mc-frickin'-Donalds toys. Store after store. Sky-high.
Even to the point where I hit an old 'recycled goods' store, easily over 200 bags of toys hanging on their back wall. So you'd think at least one or two decent finds? Newp.
McDonalds! The lot. (Well, except for one lame Hasbro Obi Wan.)
Having all but given up I finally found a pretty decent thrift store, kinda' on the obscure side a' my parent's town.
While I'm not inta Zoids overly, I just snatched the bag without a second glance. Dammit, ya just gotta have something found in the wild now and again.
-Also picked up a Hypervelocity Iron Man, 12" World Peacekeeper and Jeff Wilson 'doll' - meh.
(Jeff Wilson = All Blacks rugby player 1990s, might fetch an ok penny)
Pretty okay for $10 I reckoned.
At the very least, gave me something to do with the last couple evenings.
First up, built the
Berserk Fuhrer/Berserk Fury. Just had to nut it out from a coupla' visual references but the gears kept lockin' up.
Ended up cannibalizing half a cog from the Dimetrodon which was missing most of it's spines.
After repairin' it I skim-read on some Zoid blog or another that
Berserk F's tiny cog often snaps, a common issue. Works
perfect now though, so boy, do i feel clever... and moderately obsessive (cos there're waaay more productive things I should be doing).
Command Wolf. Bit of a classic. TBH I hadn't so much as touched a Zoid since I was seven... and even then barely. That was the neighbourhood rich-kid, who hardly opened his toys. He probably owns a small island now.
Put together
Heldigunner next, still unsure how much I like this one. Sorta' surprised to learn it was from '88. Looks newer.
This guy I know I like. Soft spot for Ankylosaurus?
Gunblaster/Gunbluster here isn't complete, but only one gun set missing. Easy custom methinks.
In fact none of them are entirely complete, but that affects some more than others.
Double Sworder, working fine like all the above, but missing the 'cockpit visor', which seems kinda' aesthetically crucial. Not my cuppa' tea, but the tucked away wings are cool.
Ah, now we're talking.
Salamander, a Zoid I actually recognize from the day. Only missing it's guns, guess it's a Sunday Driver. The motor was actually the proudest of the lot, whereas some of the designs from 2001 had initial hitches or trouble gettin' they're own weight off the ground.
Salamander proving, "they don't make 'em like they used to".
One spunky hot mess of a Spinosaurus -
Dark Spiner. Really cool choice o' action features on this one. Works, but somewhat let down by weak modern engine syndrome. I still rate it.
I'm a little confused what the initial owner was doing here though. Kept characters from the '80s to '01, but they must have thought Zoids were crap. Plenty of internal pieces left unfinished and the 'sprigs' from the parts tree were so 'unshaven' to the point they were jamming up the simplest of poseable mechanics and can never have worked.
(Yes, I shaved every piece with a scalpel. Every... piece...)
The following few models are missing serious partage;
Shame cos
Deathstinger has that badass model appeal going on, who doesn't love Water Scorpions? No point my customizing it though as the battery pack ain't even present.
Err, yeah, no comment on these freaks, looking a bit too Burger King for me.
If nothing else
Shield Liger has a cool name. Veritable landfill of chunks left over here though, and the legs feel newer than the rest of the body plastic(?), so yeh patience gone on this guy. Mechanism works sweet however and if you put him on carpet his claws push him backwards and he does the moonwalk.
Ah, poo. After madly obsessing with random Zoid-builds thrust upon me I'd for some reason looked forward to throwing this one together, but
Konig Wolf is beyond saving with whatever junk's left here. Motor still functions fine.
Not sure why I'd care actually, until a few nights ago, full of plastic compiling and speedy research, I didn't know what a
Konig Wolf or a
Liger Zero were. Perhaps I was a happier person in my ignorance.
'Cos I mean, this
Liger Zero dude don't even have his front feet, and I just infested my hovel with more unecessary plastic.
Still, building 'em up was a fun distraction and the handful I'm keepin' (Spiner, Fury, C Wolf, Gunblast & Sally) seem a decent pick-up for ten quid.